In ancient Rome, Central Power was guaranteed among the population thanks to highly skilled techniques partly still in use even today in some Modern States: an ideology and a common thought of which to feel part of as a community; participation in frequent ludic-religious festivals in theaters, circuses and amphitheaters (which in fact were state-owned); the granting of citizenship which guaranteed privileges including the free distribution of wheat (panem et circenses). Political ‘propaganda’ took place regularly with public announcements in the Forum that officially informed the people about what was happening, about new laws (the news of the time) and indoctrinated them on what was right or wrong for a good Roman. Unfortunately, there was not much possibility of dissent and often those who expressed contrary ideas were defined as ‘subversives’, deliberately mocked and publicly humiliated to discredit the thinker and thought. In extreme cases, if judged enemies of the Roman State, they were even exiled and their properties confiscated.
Public works often celebrated great men (models to follow) while the ‘enemies of the state’ received the ‘damnatio memoriae’ and their official memory was erased (fame and historical memory were everything for a people who focused on earthly success). The military campaigns were heralded as ‘necessary wars’ to bring order and civilization to the barbaric world beyond Roman borders and the victories were solemnly represented on columns, bas-reliefs and sculptures. Obviously we know that there were also enormous advantages in the conquest of certain territories and many Patritians speculated on this aspect.
The incessant public and private works were possible above all thanks to an enormous quantity of SLAVES, mainly prisoners of war, insolvent debtors or simply children of slaves receiving their mother’s status. Human beings treated as objects: bought, resold, exploited, humiliated or killed.
Christians were the first to speak of SOCIAL AND GENDER EQUALITY or rights that their GOD guaranteed to every believer, bringing an idea of an afterlife attainable thanks to a virtuous life according to the teachings of Christ.
As you can imagine, Christians were seen as subversive, dangerous for the political and communal order that power had under its control. Could certain ideas find space in a society that based its wealth on social control and slavery? Certainly not. At least not in the beginning. In fact, the adhesion and constant voice of the majority of exploited, mainly slaves but also soldiers forced to long military campaigns and plebeians tired of injustice, gradually spread among the population and after almost three centuries the Emperor Constantine, a skilled politician, sensed that the wind had changed and needed the support of a new multitude
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Maurizio Rome Guide 